xort -- you're right about that. It's much more common than I thought. Just really freaked me out to see it on my own boat.

Another tidbit: Mr. WM said he saw this problem less often when the connection ports (at the boat) were the metal types with the screw-on caps -- as opposed to the plastic ones with the flip-up caps. Interesting. I have the latter - I think I'll invest in the former.

I just attended the electrical seminar at Fawcetts (given by the contractor who repaired the lightning damage on Glory).

He showed several examples of shore power connectors much worse than Spirit's. He stated the cause as poor (read loose) mechinical contact on the M/F connector union. He said not to rely on the little ring to maintain contact, but to add stress relief in the cord (both on the dock and boat side) and secure the cord with a short length of line to prevent the cord from coming loose during tide changes, wakes from passing boats, etc.

I just attended the electrical seminar at Fawcetts (given by the contractor who repaired the lightning damage on Glory).

He showed several examples of shore power connectors much worse than Spirit's. He stated the cause as poor (read loose) mechinical contact on the M/F connector union. He said not to rely on the little ring to maintain contact, but to add stress relief in the cord (both on the dock and boat side) and secure the cord with a short length of line to prevent the cord from coming loose during tide changes, wakes from passing boats, etc.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Whilst I know how cool it is plugging a cable into the side of the boat, I have long ago taken to having my shore power cable as just an extension with a socket wired up inside the boat. The socket on deck has been redundant ever since.

That way the connection to my systems is always dry and the only (very) mild irritation is a cable hanging down alongside the companionway.

And like SD, I wrap the shore end around the post on the dock and I also have a tie taped onto the cable that I fasten to my anchor winch with an appropriately long loop (6 inches longer than the dock line) between the boat and the dock.

My dock neighbor is the inventor of that product. Saw it at the the trade show a few weeks back (didn't know it was my neighbors that invented it until then). Solid product and well thought out. The only drawback I see is the price and the fact it is basically worthless if the marinas shore power doesn't have their style receptacle. They do have an adapter plug for marina shore power to their system but in my opinion - kinda defeats the purpose. I regularly get reverse polarity when the shore power cable gets jiggled a bit as at my marina they do not have the type that allows the screw / secure thing...However nice product and the design is solid - just with the economy as it is - I think it maybe one of those inventions or "new" ideas that never make it mainstream.

-- JodyS/V "To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts." - 1983, Barberis Show 38! or To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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I think they'd need some seed money to give away a couploe of dozen thousand of them to major marina chains, in order to prime the pump and give boat owners a reason to buy them. And then, other marinas a reason to use them.

Or convince insurers that they are so much safer, marinas using them deserve an insurance break big enough to cover the cost of buying them.

Sure looks like a better mousetrap--but the old mousetraps are long bought and paid for.

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